The slick TV presentation of the teams for the Tour de France was at its sentimental best this evening.

High class videos and graphics could not hide the big white band aid plaster covering Jan Ullrich's neck following his collision with his support vehicle, which saw the German star break the rear windscreen of the car and cause the injuries to his neck. His time in the spotlight did not go so well either. A double interview with Ulle and Vino foundered in translation, and Ullrich left the stage more like a victim than a contender.

The penultimate team was Bouygues Telecom. A team from the region who are the inspiration for cycling hopes in that region.

Local crowd big support.

Finally The Discovery Team of defending Champion Lance Armstrong enters.

The team is introduced and the interviewer asks Armstrong (all this in the French Language):

”So you started here in 1993 as the youngest rider, what are your memories?”

Armstrong replies in perfect French –

“Yes, I am staying in the same hotel…”

It is enough to win the audience over, there is a round of applause.

The crowd's reaction visibly shocks Armstrong, who continues to charm the audience.

It is a masterful performance spoken in a second language which has clearly improved over the years.

Common myth: Armstrong is unpopular in Europe, guess again.

Tour de France 2005 Teams

Full list of the Tour de France Teams with

Discovery Channel

Lance Armstrong’s last race and he has brought a team of great strength and depth to try and win the Yellow jersey for a record seventh time. Armstrong’s team for his final race is probably the strongest he has ever assembled with Yaroslav Popovych and Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli in this year's line up.

Daily Peloton Man to watch – Yaroslav Popovych, how far can the young Ukranian go?

Once again Jan Ullrich attempts to dethrone Armstrong and once again he brings a mighty team in support. Andreas Klöden, Oscar Sevilla and Alexandre Vinokourov will all be backing their man in the mountains.

Daily Peloton Man to watch – Giuseppe Guerini, the Alpe d’Huez victor is always a joy to watch when the road goes upwards.

Ivan Basso brings a super team to the race with Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Bobby Julich, Jakob Piil and Jens Voigt. Basso looked very good in the Giro and has improved against the clock since last year. Team CSC could well win the team competition.

Daily Peloton Man to Watch – David Zabriske rode a great Giro and this might be Zabriske’s point.

Alejandro Valverde makes his debut in the Tour de France, Vladimir Karpets defends his White Jersey and Mancebo will be looking for a high placing on General classification. They even have room for sprinter Isaac Galvez.

After a sorry time at T-Mobile, Cadel Evans finally gets his chance in the Tour and will be hoping for a high place on the GC. However the Lotto boys will be thinking about the Green Jersey for Robbie McEwen (and stage wins) and have brought in Leon Van Bon and Fred Rodriguez to support him in the final kilometres.

Daily Peloton Man to Watch – Axel Merckx, in great form and thinking of a Merckxesque epic victory.

Denis Menchov, White jersey winner in 2003, is looking for a top 5 place, Michael Rasmussen will be looking at the King of the Mountains while Erik Dekker, a four time stage winner, Karsten Kroon and Michael Boogerd will be stage hunting.

Too many chiefs and not enough Indians? Well, Santiago Botero, Floyd Landis and Oscar Pereiro all start as equals so it will be interesting to see how the race develops for them. A strong squad which should do well in the Team classification.

Daily Peloton man to watch – Steve Zampieri, a great mountain domestique who will be busy with three stars to look after.

Without a rider for the general Classification and without Sprinter King royale Petacchi, the team will be stage hunting. Kim Kirchen, Juan-Antonio Flecha and Dario Frigo are all good enough to take a stage.

Daily Peloton Man to watch – the rouleur and Time Trial Champion of Switzerland Fabian Cancellara, a favourite for the opening stage.

Saunier Duval-Prodir will have high hopes for the White jersey with the excellent José-Angel Gomez. When the mountains loom expect to see the team in the thick of the action with great climbers Iñigo Cuesta, Juan-Manuel Garate and Chris Horner.

Daily Peloton man to watch - Leonardo Piepoli, one of the great climbers of his generation.

Triple winner of Vuelta Espana Roberto Heras will try to add the Tour de France to his palmarès. Still on the comeback trail after his horrific injuries from the Tour in 2003, Joseba Beloki will also ride. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Jörg Jaksche and Marcos Serrano are all top notch men.

Daily Peloton man to Watch - Alberto Contador, very exciting prospect against the clock and in the mountains.

Christophe Moreau may take a leaf out of Richard Virenques book and target the KoM jersey as a more realistic and attainable objective. Thor Hushovd will have an eye on the Green sprinter's jersey and Kirsipuu will mix it in the sprints.

Daily Peloton Man to watch - Andrey Kashechkin, the youngster is an outside bet for the White Jersey.

Stefano Garzelli has hardly raced all year due to misfortune and he will be hoping to reverse his fortunes in this Tour. He has good team mates in the mountains with Dario-David Cioni and Franco Pellizotti. Meantime Magnus Backstedt is looking for the Yellow Jersey in the first week and Luciano Pagliarini will be in the sprinting action.

Daily Peloton man to watch – Franco Pellizotti, the “Dolphin” will be fishing for a stage in the mountains.

Winner of the Tour des Flandres and Paris-Roubaix, Tom Boonen is now targeting the Maillot Vert, which must be a worrying thought to his rivals. Double World Time trial Champion Michael Rogers is looking for a high place on GC and should go well in Noirmoutier.

Daily Peloton Man to watch – Patrik Sinkewitz; he has just signed a three year deal with T-Mobile for 2006. Could this lead to a clash of interests?

The spirit of the Team is very much “one for all and all for one”. They will be highly motivated as the Tour starts in their home lands and at 37 years, Laurent Brochard may fancy his chances over the 19 kilometre start. The only team in the race with a one nation line up, in some ways the Team represent the hope of French cycling.

Daily Peloton man to watch - Pierrick Fédrigo wearing the national jersey; he will be super motivated and may be the surprise package.

With Damiano Cunego poorly and Gilberto Simoni also out the Lampre Team will be stage hunting. Bortolami and Commesso are experienced campaigners, but it is hard to see an optimistic outlook for the team in this race.

Daily Peloton Man to Watch - well, we will cheat, either Eddy Mazzoleni or Petrov will be the men to watch.

Both Levi Leipheimer and Georg Totschnig finished in the top ten last year, and they will probably repeat that result. Robert Förster is quick in the sprints. With Lang and Rich the team must fancy its chances in the TTT.

A very exciting squad – McGee, Casar, Cooke, Da Cruz, Eisel and the youngest rider in the race, Thomas Lövkvist, a team packed full of potential. Whether that potential explodes or implodes remains to be seen.

Daily Peloton Man to watch - Philippe Gilbert - four victories this season and not to be underestimated.

Domina Vacanze are struggling in the Pro Tour and the struggle will get harder with this squad. Serhiy Honchar may do well in the Time Trials and Angelo Furlan will try in the sprints, but results seem unlikely.

Iban Mayo is a figure of much speculation, last time Daily Peloton saw him, he was mixing it up before Aitor Gonzalez’s truly magnificent last stage attack in the Tour de Suisse. The Basque team will be hoping to do well in the mountains regardless, and with riders like Inigo Landaluze, Egoï Martinez and Haimar Zubeldia the orange shirts should shine in the Pyrennes.

Daily Peloton Man to Watch – Iban Mayo worked hard for Aitor Gonzalez on the final day of Tour de Suisse and is still a major force.

The one and only wild card Team. Ag2r Prévoyance will be highly motivated and have a fighting team - Sylvain Calzati and Samuel Dumoulin may shine but Jean-Patrick Nazon does seem to have an affinity with the race.